Biosegradable

The research group’s PhD students are sponsored by Lucideon, with the company’s principal consultant and head of Medical Materials and Devices, polymer expert, Dr Xiang Zhang, acting as industry supervisor for the project.

Dr Xiang Zhang said: “At Lucideon we do a lot of work on polymer development, whether that be in-house, with clients or within EU-funded projects such as ReBiostent and HyMedPoly. Our innovative approach has enabled us to recently develop new polymeric hybrids that consist of bioresorbable polymers and glassy materials to meet unmet medical device needs. Our team of polymer experts, both here in the UK and in the US, work closely with world-leading universities like Cambridge. This allows us to push our knowledge even further, while guiding research to meet real industry needs.

“The paper focuses on the effects of particle size in polymer degradation, but the research also represents the first time we have used our hybrid materials concept for in vivo study on biodegradable polymers.”

Biodegradable polymers could potentially allow implants and devices to degrade harmlessly over time in the body after completing their function. Traditional implanted devices can cause issues for patients if not removed, whilst surgery to remove them increases patient risk.